Sometimes you really remind me of myself, hehe. Kinda like Woody Allen gone exploitation cinema enthusiastic, but still not quite. Ehm, now I'm not making much sense. Never mind.

Anyway, I suppose it was obvious to everyone that the Synapse 27 film deal was a Nikkatsu roman batch. And it was obvious they would just port some R2J titles. WRONG, FOOLS! Don named just a couple of titles and one of them is Koyu Ohara's Fairy in a Cage, which is certainly not a part of the Geneon dvd catalogue. While this classic does not interest me personally, it does give me hope that they've picked up some other cool titles for dvd debut.

Yeah, I wish I could get more excited about the Synapse 27. I will be watching this release roster take shape with the short eyes of a movie pervert, but at the end of the day I am pretty much just interested in the girl gang movies. I am counting on you folks to let me know if any of the titles turn out to be musn't-miss-masterpieces. The only titles I KNOW I want from Nikkatsu are the GIRLS' JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL films.

Just realized that Yukie Kagawa plays Nana the go-go girl in the second Delinquent Boss movie. Also, that guy that plays the infantilized comic relief character in the Delinquent Girl Boss movies plays one of the gang. (He may be in other series entries as well. I'll have to find out!) And confirmed my suspicion that Yoko Mihara plays the horny secretary. What a stretch for her.

Sorry if this is not the optimal thread for this post. I noticed four sweet-looking boxed sets of the Japanese TV series PLAY GIRL (1969-74?) for sale at Yesasia. Anyone know how many episodes were produced and what percentage is covered by these sets?

Don is revealing [url?http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/forums/showth ... 37&page=51]more Nikkatsu pink titles[/url]. The highlights include Naosuke Kurosawa's Zoom In: Rape Apartment, which is a pretty stunning pink giallo with amazing cinematography and audio design, and Sex Hunter: Wet Target, which I think was more or less based on the same screenplay as Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter, and directed by Yukihiro Sawada, who did one of the best cop movies of the 70's; Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland. Synapse is also going to release Tatsumi Kumashiro's Lovers Are Wet, which no. 69 on Kinema Junpo's top 100 Japanese movies of all time list.

This might be my favorite scene in the film, but it is tough to watch! If you've ever had to do the "right thing" in a situation like this, you will know what I mean. The actress is gorgeous; her upper lip should be in a museum.

Ah, finally have this with subs. Haven't watched the whole thing yet, but did spot-check it. So, apparently the above character is supposed to be 15?! Oops.

Marshall wrote:So, apparently the above character is supposed to be 15?! Oops.

Heh, reminded me of Sexy Battle Girls and its 18 year old (according to Pink Eiga's subtitles) protagonist. But in the dialogue she actually says she's 14.

The actress was in her 20's.

Oh, and more Nikkatsu news. Kino / Kimstim are releasing Kumashiro films: the technically interesting but over-rated Ichijo Sayuri (my mini review), which is yet another film on Kinema Junpo's top 100 list, the rather good Yakuza Goddess: Lust and Honor (my mini review) - which features an ultra violent Taxi Driver finale, and a killer ending shot - and, strangly, Lovers Are Wet. There must be some mistake, cause that film is also on Synapse's list.

The running times, assuming both Wild Side and IMDB are correct, would seem a bit worrisome. They are the same, but with France being a PAL country their shouldn't be.

Notice that Wild Side claims some of the discs have DTS 5.1. Wait and see...

I've seen one of the films, Hell Fated Courtesan. It's an arthouse pink by Tanaka. Loved by critics, but not me.

As for the other two, The Woman with Pierced Nipples is a Shogoro Nishimura film. I used to think the guy is a hack, but I've since come realize most Nikkatsu directors are worse. That doesn't make Nishimura good, but his films do tend to have a little bit of kick.

Dark Room is kinda interesting for being 122 min. That's an exceptional length for a pink film, and a likely indication of ambition. That doesn't necessarily translate as quality, but it is usually a sign that they are trying to do something different. This film was apparently made to celebrate the studio's 70 years in business.

Makiguchi is hit or miss for me but Toei finally getting around to him is exciting news as far as I'm concerned. I could never figure why they released his 五月みどりの かまきり夫人の告白 (Satsuki Midori no Kamakiri-fujin no Kokuhaku) (1975) in 2005 and then didn't follow that up with anything else, specifically his more notorious efforts... until now. I was lucky enough to already watch the two 玉割り人ゆき / Virgin Breaker Yuki films via a recording made off the Toei Channel. As the title suggests they are about a woman whose job it is to break-in virgins after they've been sold to a brothel. It's period stuff, must have had a decent budget and overall among Makiguchi's better works. らしゃめん (Rashamen) I have never seen and frankly know nothing about. There is a LP / CD with the same title and the movie poster as the cover art and supposedly sung by Haruko Wanibuchi. So is this a musical, a concert film, an opera or what? Guess I'll find out in April.

I hope Toei will not call it quits after this batch for another 5 years and get on with releasing the rest of Makiguchi's not-too-numerous theatrical effiorts later in 2010:

戦後猟奇犯罪史 (1976)

This films (the title translates to something like "Bizarre Crimes of Post-War Japan) is similar to Ishii's Love and Crime, except that it focuses on famous and shocking crimes in the 30 years between the end of WW2 and the mid-70ies. Makiguchi managed to turn it into an entry in the decidedly Japanese genre of "rape comedies". The VHS is comparatively easy to find and I wasn't too impressed with this one. The TV show host who presents the cases seriously got on my nerves.

広島仁義 人質奪回作戦 (1976)

This is the only contemporary action film Makiguchi directed and that's a shame because this proto-heroic-bloodshed effort kicks some serious ass.

徳川女刑罰絵巻 牛裂きの刑 (1976)

Shogun's Sadism, yeah. One of the more mean-spirited films I have seen, party because the second episode is played for laughs. I have some doubts that, should Toei release this in Japan, that they can beat the genuine PAL transfer of the now OOP Dutch DVD.

女獄門帖 引き裂かれた尼僧 (1977)

This weird mixture of period splatter movie and Japanese nunsploitation is about a girl called Omino, a young woman who flees from her master and ends up in a convent full of man-hating, murderous nuns. But not after an obligatory scene of bandit-rape in the forest. Seriously, if you're a good looking chick, don't go and friggin pee in front of sex-starved bandits. There's really only one way that can end.

There was a VHS release in Japan sometime in the early 80ies but it was pan & scan 4:3 instead of 2.35:1 and as such the film is in dire need of a DVD release. It still gets occasional theatrical screenings in Japan and has a dedicated cult following. The complete screenplay along with director interviews and essays was published in the "Japanese Cult Cinema" series of books.

毒婦お伝と首斬り浅 (1977)

Another movie based on the exploits of Oden Takahashi. Her story was also adapted, among others, by Teruo Ishii in Love and Crime and Shogoro Nishimura in Kouyamu. This and Rashamen are the only Makiguchi films I haven't seen yet.

The running times, assuming both Wild Side and IMDB are correct, would seem a bit worrisome. They are the same, but with France being a PAL country their shouldn't be.

Notice that Wild Side claims some of the discs have DTS 5.1. Wait and see...

I've seen one of the films, Hell Fated Courtesan. It's an arthouse pink by Tanaka. Loved by critics, but not me.

I just got my copy of Hell-Fated Courtesan, a film I really like even if I'm not a critic! I got some bad news for any prospective buyers, however. The Wild Side DVDs are garbage. Horribly interlaced incompetent NTSC to PAL format conversions. Compared to their R2J counterparts they are all but unwatchable. Here's a quick comparison to back me up:

Geneon NTSC R2J:

Wild Side PAL:

French Menu:

The inside of the DVD booklet has the cover arts for their entire catalugue of upcoming pink DVDs but after the screenshots above, does anybody still care? The French subtitles are the only reason to pick any of them up. And that bit about DTS? Hilarious. At least the DVD back covers themselves correctly list the Japanese audio as being mono.

HungFist wrote:Mantis Lady I thought was worthless. Not really horribly bad, but I didn't find see to get excited about either.

I agree with you about Mantis Lady. That was my second Makiguchi film and it came as a tremendous disappointment. It's not a horrible film or poorly made, it's just that it is a totally forgettable 70ies sex comedy.

From the back, from the front, please
From the back, from the front, please
From the back, from the front, please
Whenever you'd like to, hold me

From the back, from the front, please
From the back, from the front, please...

You can buy it from amazon for 39 980 yen. Yeah, I told you these are oop.

edit: Hold ya fucking horses, those overpriced discs ain't gonna be selling for long. Ushiro kara, mae kara will be re-released by Geneon June 25th, with a low price tag of ￥2890. Pink Hip Girl, Pinku Curtain, and a few others will hit the streets the same day. No doubt more will follow.

HungFist wrote:Hold ya fucking horses, those overpriced discs ain't gonna be selling for long. Ushiro kara, mae kara will be re-released by Geneon June 25th, with a low price tag of ￥2890. Pink Hip Girl, Pinku Curtain, and a few others will hit the streets the same day. No doubt more will follow.

This kinda gives me some hope. Ever since Geneon stopped releasing more Nikkatsu catalogue titles I was under the impression that they had given up on the genre and were cutting their losses. With these re-releases (which of course indicate that the first pressings did sell out) and the copious amounts of these remasters getting licensed in France, the US and a handful even in Germany, maybe they will eventually consider putting out a couple more batches. There are simply too many great films that should not be consigned to unavailability or VHS rip country.

In other news, the trailers for the 3 Yuuji Makiguchi (Rashamen, Virgin Breaker Yuki 1&2) films Toei is releasing this month can currently be viewed at Toei's trailer page:

As I said before, I'm most curious about Rashamen and the trailer maddeningly still doesn't really tell me any more about what the film is about or like. It's mostly just pans across gory and sexually explicit ukiyo-e paintings with accompanying narration. I'm kinda bummed that Toei haven't announced the remainder of Makiguchi's filmography for any of the coming months. Yes, greed is a terrible thing.

I think this film has become my favorite in the series. It contains one highlight after another. One would be that girl on the left. A lot of times the "sidekick" role is that of a whiny pipsqueak or sycophant--villainess Yukie Kagawa's sidekick in that very film, for instance, or Konketsuji Rika's li'l friend in the first two RIKA's. But Reiko Oshida's sidekick in this one, while played for laughs, is pretty spunky and a bit of a scene stealer. My favorite bit is early on, when Reiko contemptuously throws away an apple she's half finished with. Sidekick Girl grins and throws hers away too. Very cute.

That girl on the left is Yoko Ichiji , She co-starred in Return of the street fighter with Sonny Chiba I am a big fan of the few movies she has been in, She is very underrated and its a shame she didnt star in a movie as a protagonist.

You, and everyone else, are very wecome to contribute to this thread. Nowadays I don't have quite as much time for movies as before, so if anyone wants to post reviews, questions, comments, or just dvd screencaps or provide some other useful info, that would be greatly appreciated.

Also, don't be afraid even though these threads are "alive"... in order to keep the information value high and indexing easy, I sometimes combine or delete some old post that don't have real information value. However, feel free to chat about anything. Maybe once every 6 months I do a bit of clean up with old posts. Nothing to worry about, guys.

Stuff like actress identifications are always useful. I also like Yoko Ichiji a lot, and never realized she was the lovely side-kick in Return of the Street Fighter.

Yes, she's in Worthless to Confess for a few minutes. Her biggest roles were on the TV show Miraman and Crest of the wolf movie. In this particular movie she is credited by the alias ''Aki Akiko''. I randomly stumbled upon it and that movie is amazing. It is incredible, all of the info you can find on the internet about these movies and actors/actresses, Which you never knew about just by installing a Japanese language pack on Windows XP and searching names and other stuff in Kanji.

Last edited by FireTiger on 16 Jul 2010, 06:04, edited 4 times in total.

You, and everyone else, are very wecome to contribute to this thread. Nowadays I don't have quite as much time for movies as before, so if anyone wants to post reviews, questions, comments, or just dvd screencaps or provide some other useful info, that would be greatly appreciated.

Also, don't be afraid even though these threads are "alive"... in order to keep the information value high and indexing easy, I sometimes combine or delete some old post that don't have real information value. However, feel free to chat about anything. Maybe once every 6 months I do a bit of clean up with old posts. Nothing to worry about, guys.

Stuff like actress identifications are always useful. I also like Yoko Ichiji a lot, and never realized she was the lovely side-kick in Return of the Street Fighter.

No problem HungFist, Thanks a lot I feel at home here, I have a passion for these movies, I stopped playing Video Games to watch these movies as entertainment instead. Yea looks are deceiving I wouldnt have known that she played that part in Return of the SF either. I like this actress very much I think shes very cute, I have a few rare pics of her if youre interested I can post them. Now the thing is she looks like a totally different person in every pic, but its her for sure Ive confirmed it on her Japanese Wikipedia page.

Marshall wrote:She is in one of the other DELINQUENT GIRL BOSS movies as well, I think. A small role in WORTHLESS TO CONFESS, perhaps. Daughter of a noodle house owner?

Could be the daughter or grandaughter, it just a shame that she wasnt in the entire movie like the rest of the gals.

Last edited by FireTiger on 16 Jul 2010, 05:57, edited 4 times in total.

Yes, rare pictures are always welcome. Especially when they feature a cute Japanese actress

You might also be interested in the JP cult cinema thread (and its sister threads). These get a little bit mixed, but basically the idea is that this thread (JP exploit) is for pinky violence and classic pink films, while JP cult cinema thread holds everything else (samurai, yakuza etc.)

OK guys these are the last pics I have, because this is all Ive acquired after intensive searches through the internet.
Now unless someone has pics that I do not have please post them. But I highly doubt anyone has more than I do since they are so rare.

This is an episode from I am the man!. Epsiode 11 called Tomorrow!
Shes the girl with the pigtails hairstyle and striped shirt holding a camera.